Day 17 (Nov 2 Thu)
Today's CRC was significantly shorter. Somehow. I guess perhaps it's because we were on our own after the meeting, having met Mrs Russo in the previous debriefing session. A-long (yes, interesting name right? =p) and I had met up earlier the day before to discuss how we were going to place the different resources, categorize them and put them into an excel spreadsheet. That went pretty well and I got to know her a little better so it's was cool. =) The meeting went as usual. We did some of the MCAS questions that we identified students having trouble with and tried to discuss how they might have trapped the students (had to wear students' thinking cap =p).
After that, it was lessons as usual. I made it to the second half of the first class. They're really a bright bunch and Karen was going through with them ISEE past year questions. can't remember what ISEE stands for but basically, these advanced students will have to take an exam, required for applications into examination schools (sth like elite schools or if you go up one level, Ivy-league colleges). This path, if selected for entry, would give them an edge to get into really good colleges.. and especially when public high schools (neighbourhood schools) have high crime rates, high violence history and lack resources often (they're working on changing these but it takes TIME), these latin schools would be very good alternatives that are affordable and have high reputations for producing excellent students. so their exam's on sat and Karen spent 1 period letting the students try questions and going through them after I finished going over the 'Do Now' and homework.
I did face a little problem with one of the homework questions. The way it was worded, students were all confused - I had to re-read the question to make sure I knew what it was asking. Yeah. so I had a hard time explaining the question itself, much less the way to answer it. So I turned to Karen for help. Which probably in itself is not bad, since the students would learn but perhaps I might have then lost the students' respect/interest for me. sobz. duno. I might try to go and present it either on the blackboard or the OHP the next time but my main concern then was getting through to the students.
Called BPS (Boston Public School) on Wed and asked if they really didn't sponsor internationals with visa. I was greeted with a "sorry, we don't. You have to get a visa yourself, then we'll hire you." It doesnt really make sense to me because the company who's hiring you ought be the one who will sponsor the visa (I learnt from Karen that it was just a letter written to the immigration office to state that this person is employed by the company). Perhaps I'll check out private & charter (like autonomous schools in sgp) and see. I guess I'd better do it soon, before the weather turns too cold to explore!
After that, it was lessons as usual. I made it to the second half of the first class. They're really a bright bunch and Karen was going through with them ISEE past year questions. can't remember what ISEE stands for but basically, these advanced students will have to take an exam, required for applications into examination schools (sth like elite schools or if you go up one level, Ivy-league colleges). This path, if selected for entry, would give them an edge to get into really good colleges.. and especially when public high schools (neighbourhood schools) have high crime rates, high violence history and lack resources often (they're working on changing these but it takes TIME), these latin schools would be very good alternatives that are affordable and have high reputations for producing excellent students. so their exam's on sat and Karen spent 1 period letting the students try questions and going through them after I finished going over the 'Do Now' and homework.
I did face a little problem with one of the homework questions. The way it was worded, students were all confused - I had to re-read the question to make sure I knew what it was asking. Yeah. so I had a hard time explaining the question itself, much less the way to answer it. So I turned to Karen for help. Which probably in itself is not bad, since the students would learn but perhaps I might have then lost the students' respect/interest for me. sobz. duno. I might try to go and present it either on the blackboard or the OHP the next time but my main concern then was getting through to the students.
Called BPS (Boston Public School) on Wed and asked if they really didn't sponsor internationals with visa. I was greeted with a "sorry, we don't. You have to get a visa yourself, then we'll hire you." It doesnt really make sense to me because the company who's hiring you ought be the one who will sponsor the visa (I learnt from Karen that it was just a letter written to the immigration office to state that this person is employed by the company). Perhaps I'll check out private & charter (like autonomous schools in sgp) and see. I guess I'd better do it soon, before the weather turns too cold to explore!
posted by sarabel @ 8:51 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home